BETHLEHEM, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saladax Biomedical, Inc., a diagnostics company providing kits to measure drug blood levels for adherence and medication management, has signed a license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica, NV, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Under the terms of the agreement Saladax acquired the worldwide exclusive patent rights for diagnostic tests that determine drug levels in patients undergoing treatment with antipsychotic medications. This intellectual property, along with the existing patents that Saladax already owns, places Saladax in a predominant position in the field of antipsychotic drug testing.Patients with mental health disorders struggle with high rates of poor antipsychotic drug adherence. It is estimated that 40-60% of patients do not take their antipsychotic medications as prescribed. One major issue in treating patients with mental health disorders is that psychiatrists have limited means to detect non-adherent patients and are often uncertain whether a lack of treatment response is due to poor adherence or true lack of drug efficacy. The Saladax tests will provide clinicians with rapid, objective results so that timely clinical decisions can be made.

“We are very pleased to have signed this agreement and look forward to making this line of reagents the standard of care in the field of psychiatry,” said Saladax CEO, Salvatore Salamone. “This agreement provides us with IP to extend our existing MyCare™ Psychiatry product line to include six commonly used antipsychotics.” Two of the six tests Saladax has developed have already received clearance for sale in Europe and four more tests are expected to have clearance in Q-3 2018. Saladax also plans on submitting these tests to the FDA beginning in June 2018.